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Chances are the first gin drink you ever had was a gin and tonic. That's no accident.

The cocktail was introduced by the army of the British East India Company in India. In India and other tropical regions, malaria was a serious problem. Lucky for our us, it was discovered in the 1700s that quinine could be used to prevent and treat the disease, although the bitter taste was unpleasant. British officers in India in the early 19th century started adding water, sugar, lime and gin to the quinine in order to make the drink more palatable. Soldiers in India were already given a gin ration (lucky bastards), and the sweet concoction made sense. Over the years malaria became less of a problem, but the taste for tonic water remained. Most commercial tonic water today is highly sweetened and has a lot less quinine than the old 1700's recipes.

While you can certainly purchase good tonic water, we might suggest splurging for a bottle of Jack Rudy Small Batch Tonic. It's essentially a quinine concentrate, stretched with a little seltzer or soda water. Once you've tried it you'll never buy bottled tonic water again.

As for the gin in our G&T, we love how the subtle cucumber flavor of Uncle Val's Restorative Gin plays off the tartness of the quinine. Give it a try and we bet you will too.

equipment:

rocks glassbarspoon

ingredients:

method:

This is an easy one. Just build it in the glass. Fill it with ice, add the Uncle Val's Restorative Gin and Jack Rudy Small Batch Tonic then fill with seltzer. Give it a light stir and garnish with a lime.